'Hate Is What It Was': Pastor Recalls Odd Package Left At Church

Editor's Note: Some of the language included in the attached letter is graphic and could be disturbing for some readers. Patch is including the letter to help provide as much information as possible to the public, hopefully leading to closure for the investigation. The entire letter can be found at the end of this story.

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A member of River of Life Family Worship Center on Highway 82 noticed a small enveloped package left against the church doors when she came in last Saturday. Not thinking much of it, according to Pastor Ray Sullivan, she took it inside and didn't open it or really look over it.

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"Sunday morning, I came in and I found it," Sullivan told Patch in an interview on Thursday. "The front of it was sort of like a hard envelope-type deal and when I turned it over was when I saw the things toward Blacks and Jews and it was very racially provocative."

Unbeknownst to Sullivan at the time, the church had just become the latest recipient in a series of rambling anti-Semitic, homophobic and racist letters hand-delivered to least 10 businesses and two churches in Tuscaloosa, according to the Tuscaloosa Police Department.

Upon examining the package, the pastor said the front of the envelope had the phrase "We would die for Israel" and a picture of a military group cut out from a magazine. When he saw the back of the package, though, it set off even more alarm bells.

"On the back of it was very derogatory towards Blacks and statistics about things and ... hate is was it was, honestly," Sullivan said, before mentioning that the incident was still fresh on the minds of those in his congregation. "It's still green to everybody because I haven’t really gotten into detail with it other than the pastor found something he wasn’t happy with that was inside the church. We just sort of told everybody we shouldn’t ever bring anything inside that we don’t know what it is."

Church leaders initially opted to throw the package away, but Sullivan had second thoughts and retrieved it from the trash, thinking it might be important to report to the police.

Sullivan also managed to snag footage of the man leaving the package, which contained a three-page manifesto that incoherently lays out conspiracy theories and hate speech aimed at a wide range of targets.

For instance, at one point in the letter, which begins "Dear .... Romans," the author provides unsourced statistics as he opines on troubles facing the African-American community, writing "OUR Jew dominated universities and media tell us it's because of poverty, the legacy of JimCrowSlaveryandmicro-aggressions [sic]. But then they tell us LGBTQ are Born that Way."

The photos then got the attention of the Tuscaloosa Police Department, who also posted pictures taken of the white-bearded letter-writer, wearing what appears to be a T-shirt depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin. After posting the shots on Tuesday, investigators learned of similar reports made to agencies in surrounding counties. One of the other agencies, the Jasper Police Department, is also involved in the investigation and posted photos of the same suspect this week.

"It just didn’t seem right," Sullivan said after seeing the footage. "The guy who left it didn’t seem right. None of it seemed right."

TPD also reported that many of the people who received the letters are concerned not just by the disturbing content, but the fact that they were hand-delivered.

"You have to be careful at your church and stuff,"Sullivan said. "If you see anything like that, do like the police told us — Don’t touch it. It could be anything. You never know, in the time and world we live in today, you never know."

Sullivan did say he did not feel his church was specifically targeted for its congregation or beliefs, but likely because of its location.

"It was a shock," he said. "I don’t believe we were intentionally targeted, but I believe it was done from where our church is located, right on the side of Highway 82. It's easy to just drop something off and leave. I'm praying for him that he gets his heart right. In his mind and mentality maybe he thinks he’s doing what’s right, but he needs to get his heart right because there’s hate in his heart."

Those with any information into this case are asked to call the Tuscaloosa Police Department at (205) 349-2121 or CrimeStoppers at (205) 752-7867.

Here is a copy of the letter obtained by Patch and published in full.

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